


Fate

by Madashatters



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Last Five Years (2014)
Genre: Apologies, Broken Engagement, Chance Meetings, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 12:15:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16853794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madashatters/pseuds/Madashatters
Summary: Years ago, you were happy. You had everything you ever wanted; a dream, a home, the love of your life. Then it all ended; your engagement, your love, your happiness. Winn had cheated on you and ended your future together. So you started a new life, in a new town with new people surrounding you. Of course, fate wasn’t so kind as you saw Winn at a restaurant. He wants to apologize and you want to move on. Maybe things could work out in the end.





	Fate

Ten years ago you were happy, you had met the man of your dreams and had a decent enough job that you didn’t hate going everyday. Nine years ago you felt as if things were too good to be true, you had found a house with your boyfriend and finally started the new stage in your relationship. Eight years ago you were ecstatic, you were engaged to your very own Adonis and had quit your job to pursue your dream. Seven years ago the love of your life no longer acted the same, he didn’t come home with stories abound and smiles to share. Six years ago you still planned the wedding, there was no proof no matter what your heart and friends had said. You loved him and he loved you, that’s what mattered. Five years ago, he admitted to cheating on you in a letter. One he left on the desk you two once shared, with his ring and set of keys next to it. Multiple times, he cheated multiple times and yet some part of you still wished this was all some type of joke or dream. In your own home, in your bed, as if you never shared anything together. **  
**

Things weren’t fine, even five years later you were still haunted by the heartbreak. Relationships never lasted, the trust never fully there anymore. A year after the break up you moved out of New York and went to National City, attracted to the idea of superheroes and supervillains. What better place for a photographer to go?

Of course, the name Winn Schott was a name that was never too far from thought. To give your heart to someone for so long, to feel love like you thought you both did, it was almost traumatizing for it to be taken away the way it was. Nevertheless, five years later, you never expected to hear the name Winn Schott ever again. Let alone, see him. There he sat, across the restaurant from you, laughing with his friends, oblivious to your attention. Even in a city where chaos reigned almost every day, you still couldn’t escape him. How could fate be so cruel? At least you had lasted this long without the dreaded face to face confrontation. He still hadn’t seen you, so you still had a chance to escape.

You waved at the waiter for your check, ready to leave before he noticed you. Though once again, fate wasn’t so kind. From the corner of your eye you saw his double take after looking around the restaurant. You smiled at your waiter as he placed the check in front of you, paying in cash to hopefully make a quick escape. You set the money down and headed towards the door, pretending like you didn’t know he watching you, like you didn’t know his friends were posing to ask questions, like you didn’t hear him shout “Y/N” as the door closed behind you. You ignored the tears in your eyes and you sped up your walk, hoping he didn’t decide to follow you. Lucky you, he didn’t. Instead, he stood outside the restaurant entrance, defeated and beyond guilty.

* * *

\----

Winn stood frozen outside of the entrance, almost in a trance at the thought that he had seen you. It had been years and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t regret his past with you every day. Not the good parts, no, never the good parts. His time spent with you were some of his happiest moments in such a terrible point in his life. Of course, he ruined it. When he moved to National City he strived to change who he was, to return to who he used to be. And he succeeded, he became friends with Kara and James, he got a job at CatCo and. later on, the DEO. What could be better than using his intelligence to help those who needed it? To work with Supergirl and _Superman_. It was amazing. Of course, no one knew about his past. Most days he wished he didn’t know about his past either. “Winn?” He turned to see Kara, looking at him confused and almost hesitant. He let out a breath. “Who was she?” He could see Alex and James standing near the table with a careful eye on him.

“That was my ex fiance.” Kara gasped and glanced back to the two friends you had left behind. He followed her gaze and took a deep breath. “I have a lot of explaining to do.” Kara nodded and dragged Winn back into the restaurant.

* * *

\----

“You _what_?!” Alex glared at Winn from across the table, barely restraining herself from attacking him on the spot.

“I know, _I know_. I was young and stupid and I’m not excusing what I did!” He raised his hands in defense at the glares that were thrown his way. “But we met at _eighteen_. And we were planning to get married so quickly, idiot me was overwhelmed and thought the best way to deal with it was to sleep around and ruin the best thing that had ever happened to me.”

“I know you’ve changed Winn but _wow,_ that’s one hell of a past, man.” Winn nodded, he couldn’t agree more.

“You still love them.” Kara studied Winn, with a soft gaze and no judgement. Winn was glad, though the story had to be told, he was scared it would lead to losing his best friends. He shrugged, not wanting to admit it but the facts were laid out. It had been five years and he still missed you and cherished the time you spent together. He wasn’t naive, he knew there was no fixing what he had broken. “Not a question, I can see it.” James nodded along with Alex.

“It doesn’t matter. You saw how they ran. I don’t know how I can fix that.” Winn looked up to his friends, clear grief in his eyes. Alex’s harsh stance softened at the sight. She stared at him with an intensity that always frightened him.

“Closure.” James and Kara nodded as if that made sense. The confusion must have showed on his face by the exasperated look on Alex’s. “We find her, you talk, at least give them some closure that’s better than a letter.” Winn coughed awkwardly but nodded nevertheless. He had to do this, even if it meant you never talked to him again, if it meant making your future easier. He was ready.

* * *

\----

You would be lying if you said the rest of your day wasn’t harder. You had turned in your pictures to meet your deadline and faked an illness to get home fast. Your boss liked you enough to let you get by, even with your bad acting skills. You started walking towards your apartment, only to be stopped by a familiar looking girl. “Hi,” she spoke nervously yet happy at the same time. “My name is Kara, we don’t know each other.” You stared at her, waiting for the obvious point that was coming for her to start this conversation. “Oh! Right-um, I’m a friend of Winn’s.” You were debating whether you would make it home if you made a run for it. Seeing the need to escape on your face, Kara stood in front of you with her hands splayed out. Not touching you but ready to stop you if needed. “He told us about what happened, yknow before, and I am so sorry. I’m sure if I had known Winn at that time I never would’ve given him the time of day.” Kara grimaced, though there was sincerity in her voice, “That sounds like I’m taking his side, I’m totally not-not that there are sides to begin with. Anyway, he wants to talk to you.” She took a deep breath, which wasn’t surprising since it almost seemed like she said all that with only one breath.

“I don’t think I can do that.” You weren’t sure if you were being honest with yourself or her but it felt good to tell the truth, to admit how you feel.

She shook her head, “Not to get back together or anything like that. He said he wanted closure, for both of you and, if you want a random stranger’s opinion, I think it’s the most adult thing to do instead of hoping you never seen each other again.”

You contemplated the idea, “What’s he like now? The Winn you know?”

Kara smiled. “He’s a gigantic nerd. He’s always smiling and has a joke ready. He’s awkward and somewhat naive but in the best way. He’s one of my best friends.”

You were surprised, he sounded nothing like the Winn you knew or remembered. He was a new person. You made the decision without really thinking about it. “I’ll meet him”

Kara smile turned guilty, “Good because he’s kind of already at your apartment?” You looked at her confused. “He may or may not work at a place where he can access that sort of information easily and I mean _yeah_ it’s kind of creepy but that’s why I came to find you, so you wouldn’t be too surprised.”

You shook your head but smiled anyway. “Thank you Kara. Maybe if these goes the right way me and you could hang out sometime.”

“I’d like that.”

* * *

\----

For some reason you thought he would be waiting in your apartment like an evil villain, with a smirk while petting your cat saying “I’ve been expecting you.” Instead, he stood outside the building, and stumbled to stand straight when he saw you.

He kept a distance, too nervous that he’d do something wrong if he got any closer. “Uh, hey, I know this is weird but lemme explain-”

You interrupted him, surprisingly you could feel a grin forming on your face. “Kara told me”

He stopped mid ramble, his hands freezing in the air. He looked at you baffled, an expression you’ve never seen on him before. “Kara told you?” You nodded. His hands dropped back to his sides, no longer knowing what to do. “Yea, that-that was smart. I didn’t mean to just throw all this at you but I wanted it to be as soon as possible. Sorry.”

You watched as he stuttered over his own thoughts and, adorably might you add, rambled to explain what he was doing. He had even apologized. You can’t remember the last time he had said those words. You tilted your head, “You really have changed”

He shrugged, desperation on his face. “I’d like to think I have.”

You walked towards the building, signaling for him to follow. “Come on up.”  

“Yea.” He paused in shock that you were giving him a chance to talk. He chased after you after realizing the distance you had already walked. “Ok.”

* * *

\----

“I am _so_ sorry.” Immediately after entering your apartment Winn had started talking. You let him, this was what he was here to do after all. “Sorry doesn’t even begin to cut it, most days I want to travel back in time and just beat myself up because you really were the best thing that happened to me,” You ignored your heartbeat and sat at a barstool. “There have been so many times where I actually considered crawling to your door and begging for forgiveness.” He paused and stopped his pacing. “I guess that isn’t much different than what I’m doing now, is it?” You smiled at him, genuinely. The smile you got in response startled you, you always did love his smile. He walked towards you and cautiously took your hands. He crouched down so you were eye level, no longer above you like he always was in your past _disagreements_. “Except this should have come much, _much_ sooner and I’m sorry it took me seeing you to realize that.” His gaze was tied between looking at your hands and into your eyes. You had imagined this moment before, of course then it was through a filter of sadness and anger. You imagined that you would slap him, allow no words between the two of you. You imagined that you would yell until your voice gave out, that you would cry until your eyes dried. You never thought you would be smiling, that you would allow yourself to be touched by his hands again. But they weren’t really _his_ hands were they? His gaze settled at your eyes. The level of sorrow and guilt in them made your breath catch. “Y/N, I haven’t and will never be able to forgive myself for what I did to you,” His voice dropped to a whisper,his gaze falling with it. “To us.” His hands tightened slightly, steeling himself for the rest of his speech. “I’m not-  I’m not asking for your forgiveness because I know that is something I don’t deserve. But I also know that how I left you and us was wrong. I left you with a _letter_ of all things and I didn’t even apologize.” His eyes returned to yours and you were shocked to see that they were coated in tears. You had never seen him cry before, not like this at least. “I know I’ve said it a bunch but Y/N, I am so sorry.”

You took back one of your hands and placed it on his face, he leaned in to it automatically. You weren’t sure if he even realized he did. You smiled down at him and wiped away a tear that had fallen while some of your own fell too. “In the past five years I never thought I would ever forgive you.” His expression turned hopeful, though he braced himself to be disappointed. “Then again, I never thought you could change so much.” You took a deep breath. “I don’t think I can forgive you, mainly because you’re a completely different man and I think-” You shook your head. “I think I want to get to know this new you.”

“I don’t deserve that.” He shook his head against your hand.

You kissed his forehead, no longer feeling the nervousness and sadness from before. “Prove me wrong. Prove yourself wrong.” You pulled back and looked into his eyes again. “I think I want this to work, whether that’s just closure, friendship, or something else. I don’t want to hate you anymore.”

Winn stood up in excitement and stepped forward to hug you. He stopped, “Can I hug you?” His smile was blinding.

You stood from your stool and walked into his arms, your own encircling his waist.  He was still taller than you, your head perfectly placed on his shoulder. His embrace was tight and you felt safer than you thought you would in his arms again. It felt different, no longer was it strained or tense with the knowledge of a failed relationship. Instead, it held hope and something neither of you quite wanted to name yet. You pulled back, one blinding smile looking at another. You gave him a pointed stare. “This doesn’t mean I’m forgetting the past, that’s just crazy.”

He laughed and hugged you again, lifting you slightly with his excitement. “I wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart.” He placed you back on the ground, a sheepish expression on his face. “I hope you like this new me.”

“From what I’ve heard he’s pretty great,” You felt lighter after his apology. You were no longer weighed down by what he did in the past. Sure, it wasn’t perfect and you were sure fate would rear it’s ugly head somewhere around the corner. But for now, it was being kind to you and you were going to take advantage of it as long as it did. The past wasn’t erased but it was not finally a memory instead of a boulder on your shoulders. You smiled up at him, a new giddiness replacing the weight on your chest. “I’m sure I’ll love him.”  

**Author's Note:**

> Oct 23rd, 2017


End file.
